Go to the Recipe: Modernist Chicken Consommé
from reading the instruction, when you do a traditional consomme the egg whites pulls out a lot of the flavor, hence why you need protein and mirepox to re-add the flavors. But Methylcellulose doesnt have that same effect from what was stated above
Isn’t it because stock clarification results in a loss in flavour so when making the consommé more meat needs to be added to make up for the loss in flavour.
I only say this because whenever I’ve needed beef consommé at work, it has always been common practice to put beef mince into the consommé when clarifying for the same reason
any answer to this?
Is the chicken breast (or other protein) necessary? I’ve seen a few people ask, but haven’t seen a response. Thank you!
Do you need to add additional protein to a stock to clarify it with Methylcellulose or can you just add the powder into any stock? Thanks!
agar and gelatin filtration are great go-to's if you don't have Methocel just lying around lol there are some great recipes on that floating around the internets and stuffs
I made this today flavoured as a bacon dashi absolutely smashed it. So happy with the clarity. In reflection my broth could have been a little stronger however I would that only to make it better next time
Xanthan gum isn't going to give you the results you're looking for. Try agar if you've got it.
Use agar in the amount of 2% total weight. Heat to activate and whisk to create agar 'curds". Strain through cheesecloth lined chinois.
So, I tried this tonight. I'm currently very unhappy, but then again, I had to made do with what I had. I had 3600 g of stock, so I had to use 1200g of chicken and 12g of methylcellulose, but I only had xanthan gum. I blended everything smooth, and maybe that was my mistake. Here I am an hour later still simmering a bubbling pot of pink chicken goop on my stove. The proteins haven't risen to the top, and at this point, I don't expect them to. It makes me sad. Maybe if I let it sit overnight, it'll separate. sigh.
Update: Experiment failed. Got a milky pink goop that burned to the bottom of my pot. Gonna try again soon. Possibly tonight. This will be the most expensive chicken stock I have ever made after one full failed attempt. Maybe I'll just clarify store bought stock.
Is there a golden ratio for methylcellulose to stock? And could I add the methylcellulose to a pot of strained stock and stir instead of blending?
Made this tonight as an experiment using roasted chicken stock and It came out perfect like liquid gold baby I'm a classically trained chef a true consomme is time and labor consuming this sets the bar to a whole new level love this
to get a it clarrified, you can freeze the chicken stock and the defrost it in fine sieve or mousseline. old school technice works every time
How do you clarify this with agar?
Is it exactly the same only using 2grams of agar powder?
Thanks
So did it work with xanthan and what amount did you use?
According to the text, the answer may be "Yes"... (I was going to try Xathan Gum)
"If you don't have Methylcellulose F50, you can use several other cellulosic gums—the differences are their various gelling properties."
Would Methylcellulose B work as good?
I am a Chinese,there is a really similar traditional dish called 开水白菜（Steamed Chinese Cabbage in Supreme Soup).It also featured a purified chicken stock,but instead of egg white it required chicken breast gruel.
Just a really interesting fact.
when using the "heston method", which creates stunning clear broths, make sure to add some gelantine before serving, because this method takes out ALL the gelantine. Get your awesome mouthfeel back with a little added gelatine.
Freeze your shrimp stock. Line a chinois with cheese cloth. Place frozen shrimp stock into and allow to thaw naturally. Voilla... Clean and clear shrimp stock. Another "old school trick" is to whip egg-whites WITH granulated gelatin and creat the raft. The gelatin helps to add a stabilizing/ thickening to the stock and the raft still does it's job.
do you think this method would work well with shrimp stock ? I was advised to put some chicken as well as shrimp into my stock for clarification purposes because with the traditional method shrimp meat alone would not lend an entirely clear consomme? Thank you!
For what its worth, this is probably the best and most practical use of Methocel F50 I've ever used. Thank you chef steps!
It should not be a lower yield than agar clarification. It should actually be pretty high yield. I'm quite surprised you got less than a 50% yield @Steven_;McLoughlin. I would expect at least 80%.
The video appears to show yield of 200g, but that could be unintentional. If it is a lower yield than agar clarification, at least its good to know that it is faster.
That's a pretty low yield. Maybe even lower than I got with agar clarification. I just got some methylcell, so I'm hoping to give it a try this week.
- originally posted by Chris Cook
I was wondering the same as Steven. I got ~220g using the full recipe.
I got a yield of 290g while using 600g of stock, is this typical? Will this method using Methylcel F50 produce a higher yield than agar or gelatin clarification?
Is a protein such as chicken needed to allow the clarification to work when using Methylcellulose, or is the addition of the chicken just for flavor and effect?
This may be my favorite new technique of all the recipes provided by ChefSteps since the beginning of the site. What a tremendous time saver, stunning results!
Yes.
Really appreciate this video as when I read "heat on low for 20 minutes" I have no idea what the stock should look like in the pot, but in the video I can see how close to a simmer, etc. it should be at. Your low seems to be higher than my perception of low.
Excellent update! The expanded text with more explanation is very much appreciated.
I agree with Chris Cook on this point. I'd love to learn a bit about the theory behind the use of these ingredients and the amounts so I can better learn how to use them in the future when improvising dishes.
Yes it would, with less yield but it would work. Actually its has a good amount of gelatin in it naturally. So it you freeze it and let it rest like agar that would suffice.
- originally posted by Grant Lee Crilly
Would agar clarification work?
- originally posted by Pepijn
looks amazing! How's this differ from using the egg whites method?
Not quite as clear, but more chicken flavor. Definitely much, much faster.
Very nice. How does this method compare, in terms of flavour and clarity, to clarifying with gelatine overnight a la Heston Blumenthal?
This looks really good. Looking forward to trying it.One comment I do have, and this extends to most recipes here that use the modernist/techincal ingredients - It would be really nice to have a sentence or two about the thought process behind its use. Why was this one used and not another? What is the ingredient's intended effect in this application? And why was this particular concentration used? From this recipe I don't know why you chose the F50 version of methyl cellulose, and I don't know if this was a particularly large or small amount versus how it might otherwise be used.
awesome. can this method be used to make a tomato consomme?
- originally posted by Chintan
This is wonderful. I can't wait to try it - and I'm so relieved to see that my pressure-cooker white stock isn't any cloudier than the one shown here.
